Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings (2018)

Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings

Praise both the old Fantasy Gods and the new, we have arrived! After a crazy 2018 Preseason, Week 1 is upon us, as REAL (Fantasy) Football kicks off on Thursday! Just three days later, Scott Hanson‘s angelic, glowing face will bless our TV Screens with quad boxes of delight on NFL Red Zone… hopefully with your players filling up those scoring screens. Needless to say, this fantasy wood won’t be leaving any time soon.

Getting off to a fast fantasy start is always crucial, and you need the right Rankings and Sit/Start Advice to do so. Below find the best Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings in the business. If you have any specific lineup questions, please let me know. While rankings are helpful, many factors are at play that can cause a change. For example, you may be an underdog, and starting a “boom-or-bust” player is more appealing for your lineup versus a surefire 7 or 8 points.

Hit me up @RotoStreetWolf, and be sure to tune into our Fantasy Sit / Start Show. *NOTE* The show normally runs Sunday @ 11 AM EST Facebook Live. However, The Wolf is going to the Patriots vs. Texans, so we’ll be running a day early for Week 1 only.

As a reminder: these rankings are based on 1/2 PPR, 4 Pt Passing TD Scoring.

Week 1 Updates

9/5 Update – Le’Veon Bell is now a near-lock to miss Week 1, and quite possibly much longer. James Conner will be given the featured back treatment against a stout Cleveland D that may be tough versus the run, but very generous with RB receptions. He rises to my RB13 for the week, and is a near must-play on DraftKings at only $4500.

Rankings Rundown Show (Week 1)

For the first time ever, The Wolf invites you behind the Fantasy Rankings Curtain as he sets his Week 1 Rankings LIVE! Hear his thoughts, and don’t miss the next Rankings Rundown — Every Tuesday @ 5pm EST on Facebook Live, to have all your early Sit / Start questions answered!

Bottom Line: Pass-catching specialist, who? Christian McCaffrey returned to his college workhorse roots under new OC Norv Turner, and quickly put up Fantasy MVP-worthy numbers. He continued to flash his otherworldly receiving abilities, hauling in an NFL record 106 catches for 875 yards and 6 TDs. Yet where the usage really rose was the carries, as McCaffrey nearly doubled his 2017 total for 215 carries, 1080 yards, and 7 scores. These 321 total touches ranked third behind only Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley, and this newfound volume created the ultimate ceiling / floor combination. In the process, McCaffrey flashed both the elusiveness, breakaway ability, and most shockingly underrated power to redefine the workhorse model.

​New OC Norv Turner deserves immense credit for this outburst. His previous work with LaDanian Tomlinson proved he wasn't afraid to ride a smaller-back, as he's able to scheme his guys in space and in creative outside gaps versus just blasting them up the gut... but even still, never before had an NFL back played nearly 97% of the team's snaps. Yes, this number inevitably will fall in 2019, but McCaffrey should still hover around 85-90%, especially with Turner returning. Expect a similar buffet of weekly volume with the upside for even more efficiency should the Panthers beef up their line while their explosive young wideouts take a next step forward.

Ceiling Projection: 320 touches (100 rec.), 2,000 Tot. Yds, 13 TDs

Floor Projection*: 270 touches (70 rec.), 1600 Tot. Yds, 7 TDs

Actual Projection: 310 touches (90 rec), 1900 Tot. Yds, 12 TDs

*Note - Floors are done without injuries in mind. Of course the lowest floor is torn ACL first play of scrimmage. This assumes 16 games